Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

Whether you call it co-packing or re-packing this involves the further manipulation of a previously finished and complete SKU. Look around the shelves and the evidence of extra expense and work is displayed by special stickers, multi-packs and…

Let me get straight to the point on this one. Why do so many FMCG mergers or acquisitions frequently result in the apparent death-knell of once proud and promising brands? I am not going to name any names but if you think about it there have been…

Only a few months into the year and I am hearing the same old complaints about the economy and business being in general ill health. However, there is a new recurring theme which popped up at various parties and gatherings over Easter; “my company…

If you do not specifically agree on what is expected between two parties before you start a relationship then anything and everything but success is likely. You buy a new car and you get a contract that tells you what is covered by the guarantee and…

Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Abbott and Costello, Little and Large, Hale and Pace, May and Johnson. These are examples of double acts where one party plays the straight/stooge and apparently serious man while the other plays the…

I have just had one of those mornings. I missed the alarm and the 10-minute snooze and from then on everything went downhill. Jumped in the shower for a brief cleanse but then I realised there was no soap, not even a sliver. So, soaking wet I get…

Like many business functions Supply Chains use multiple initials and/or acronyms to describe various tasks they manage on a daily basis. Those not familiar with SC-speak will often sit bemused in meetings as various initials are quoted and debated…

There is enough disruption and discontinuity in supply chains without the necessary evil or pleasure of new product development (NPD) and product change getting in the way. Just when everyone has become used to ordering, storing, picking, delivering…

What about your company? Do you have great brands and brand awareness, a fantastic extended supply chain, an analytics package, tight financial control, top class HR, the best sales force, innovative marketing? If you tick all these boxes then life…

Do you find yellow dog biscuits stuffed in your window frames? Well, I’d expect such occurrences to be as rare as a squirrel with a nut allergy but I find it all the time. Our house has mosquito nets on the windows as our summers are rather hot and…

Despite what you may wish to believe the answer is probably, yes. You have invested heavily in brand new ERP software and similarly heavily in some smart, young consultancy people to run the implementation. You will have spent some timing debating…

Have you ever “hunkered down”? I remember being asked to hunker down during a business game training course many years ago and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Eventually I had to ask as failing to follow the hunker downwards request…

UK has been my base for a few days and even in that short time I have started to genuinely think I must now be a different nationality if not from a different planet. When my denim jeans rip at the knees it is time to throw them out. I do not have a…

Once upon a time there was an FMCG company that I will refer to as “Foresight”. “Foresight” had spent many years and many Euros creating a slick inbound Supply Chain. Top class global, regional and collaborative buying Flexible manufacturing network…

How do you keep track of Supply Chain performance within your FMCG, Brewing or Pharmaceutical business? You do, don’t you? If you are not measuring any KPIs then perhaps you should stop here, read this KPI piece and then pop back and carry on. You…